NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Oktoberfest, known as the longest running festival in Nashville, has expanded into a four day event and has a new location on the other side of Jefferson Street.

The festival is one of the many signs of the growth of the area.

In conjunction with the festival, Von Elrod’s Beer Garden and Sausage House is opening on Fourth Avenue North–the area’s newest restaurant, but the whole neighborhood is quickly transforming with development.

“We are seeing this really quick conversion of more of an industrial use to kind of a residential use,” said Freddie O’Connell, councilman of District 19.

Just across from Christie Cookie on Third Avenue North, crews are hammering away at three large residential developments.

“This is three completely different projects, and there are more just up the road,” explained O’Connell.

Freddie O’Connell (Photo: WKRN)

He says the growth of the area is comparable to the transformation of the Gulch.

“If we look around this area and what it used to be, it’s actually not that dissimilar from the Gulch. There was a lot of industrial, a lot of warehouse, you know, kind of as you got close to the river. There just really wasn’t a residential area, but I think in the past five years with suddenly with so many people, now all of a sudden there’s this influx of people, including some of them like myself, a native, where living close to the heart of the city seems really appealing,” he told News 2.

There is now plenty of opportunity, with more coming.

“The schedule has us looking at I think 2,800 new residential opportunities in the next 12 to 18 months,” O’Connell noted.

Along with the new housing developments comes new retail and restaurants for the area.

O’Connell said, “Instead of just like building a wall down to the sidewalk you are going to see a lot more of these developments have something engaging down at the street scape so that we have opportunities for restaurants and retails. I think that’s much better for overall quality of life.”